tuscanlifeedit

Hello
Can anyone please tell me how to find this information:

I want to take a train from Charles de Gualle Airport to Provence. I would love to see a list of destinations for direct trains from CDG to Provence cities/towns but can't quite figure it out.

I'm planning a trip for late September and early October. Originally had planned to train to Avignon, but mostly just because I knew i could. Avignon is not stirring my imagination.

My dream trip would consist of small and charming towns, some markets, a few historic sites, the coast, and as many art museums and galleries as possible.

It seems to me that the galleries and museums are concentrated nearer to Nice. Am I right? I'm sort of seeing Nice as the only substantial city I'm interested in.

Not looking for wine, and not interested in any Year in Provence related stuff. Also much more interested in seeing art than in walking in the footsteps of artists.

13 nights on the ground. Would love to end in Paris, even for a day and night. (flying in and out of CDG)

I'm stymied on my itinerary and could use help.

StuDudley

Go to the German train site
http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query2.exe/en?rt=1&

Go from "Paris CDG TGV" to "Avignon TGV". Dates are in DD/MM/YYYY format. Keep the inquiry for a December date. Not sure if next year's schedules are loaded yet.

You can also take the TGV to Nimes, Marseille, and Aix en Provence without a train change. Also to Nice.

The TGV serves large cities - not small villages. You'll need a car for what you are looking for.

Stu Dudley

StCirq

There are direct TGVs from CDG to Aix as well as Avignon - though the station in Aix is not in the city center and will require a shuttle. To get to Nice from CDG requires a change in Marseille (there are more complicated ways, but why bother?). Once in Nice you have a nice transportation system that will get you to many places, but not the charming little inland villages for the most part - for that you'd need a car.

Train schedules and prices identical to those on www.voyages-sncf.com can now be found at www.capitaintrain.com - much easier for Americans to use because there are no problems with American credit cards.

Hope that helps.

tuscanlifeedit

Very helpful, yes.

I knew that we couldn't get to a small town by train, but here's the idea I'm stewing on at the moment:

TGV to Nimes, then some sort of transportation to Uzes, where we could stay put without a car for a couple of days. We really don't want to drive until we've rested for a day or two after our transatlantic flight.

Does this make sense to you who are familiar with the area? From Uzes, I thought about heading east by car. Not sure what exactly to plan, but some places are stirring through my head.

There are cheap flights from Nice to ORY or is this one of those times when only a train makes sense? I'm not thrilled about changing trains in Marseilles, but then, I'm not thrilled with extra airports either.

StCirq

There's a bus from Nîmes to Uzès: http://www.edgard-transport.fr/horai...e=6&lign_id=24

I don't know where the gare routière in Nîmes is in relation to the main gare SNCF, but normally they're pretty much adjacent to each other.

As for getting back to Paris, I'd just compare the train prices with the flight prices for the particular date and time. I would always prefer the train, but that's just me.

StuDudley

My wife & I have vacationed for 18 weeks in Provence and 16 weeks on the Cote d'Azur. We've spent 2 weeks in a gite near Uzes. Lots of stuff to keep you busy near Uzes. I've never needed an entire 2 days to rest up after a trans-Atlantic flight - and I start the day in San Francisco. I never plan to drive more than 2 hrs on landing day, however. And I'm 66 years old.

The TGV between Nice & Paris is slow. I would probably fly from the US to Nice & start your vacation there. Then TGV from Avignon back to Paris or CDG.

I have a 27 page Provence/Cote d'Azur itinerary that I've sent to over 3,000 people on Fodors. If you would like a copy, e-mail me at [email protected] & I'll attach one to the reply e-mail.

Stu Dudley

kerouac

It's a shame that Avignon is not stirring your imagination since it is one of the very best cities that you can visit.

Marseille would be a much more interesting city to visit than Nice.

Sarastro

If galleries and museums are your genuine interest, why are you not staying in Paris? I don´t really know the Côte d´Azur that well but is there really a sizable number of galleries and museums in Nice?

You could take the TGV to Nîmes and connect by bus to Uzès (the Gare Routière or bus station is just behind the train station in Nîmes). Train schedules are generally available 3 months in advance of any given travel date but sometimes schedules do appear earlier. If your plan is to arrive CDG and take a train south, I don´t think you will want to travel beyond Nîmes the day of your arrival in France. This assumes you are travelling from somewhere in North America and making an all night, transatlantic flight. Nîmes has wonderful Roman ruins to see and the Pont du Gard is not far from Uzès.

You might add the continent you live on to your profile or at least include from where you will be arrive when you land at CDG. It makes a difference when planning for follow on travel.

If your overall objective is Nice, Nîmes is the wrong direction for a stop over. Consider CDG to Avignon with objective of staying somewhere such as St Rémy or L´Isle-sur-la-Sorgue rather then Uzès (but I could easily spend several days there relaxing, it´s just too far west). St Rémy is a short bus ride from Avignon and L´Isle-sur-la-Sorgue is available by train.

If you are asking about returning to Paris by train from Nice there are non stop trains but the high speed tracks are not yet available much east of Marseille which is why the TGVs take so long to reach Paris.

It would be very helpful if you narrowed your travel objectives because Avignon and its surroundings is a rich tourist environment and you could easily fill a week to 10 days simply driving western Provence.

If Provence is not really not what thrills you, consider more time in Paris and a 3 day trip to the Loire Valley or a 7-9 day trip from Normandy and looping south to the Loire Valley before returning to Paris?

I have spent years travelling around France and there is always something new to see.

tuscanlifeedit

We have been to Paris several times and will go back; I've visited my favorite galleries and museums there and am now interested in seeing others.

I was in the South of France many years ago, but my husband has not been. We are very interested in several specific museums on or near the Riviera and thus that part of our choice.

Would have loved to have flown to Nice but we are flying on very low cost award tickets and the best we could do was in and out of CDG. I'm talking about bare minimum points.

I really do want to see every single place mentioned above, but I only have 13 nights.

I can well imagine that Avignon is a wonderful city, but felt that a city wasn't what I wanted to start this trip with. I will certainly reconsider, and not only because it is easy to get to from CDG.

Narrow my travel objectives: I thought I had in my OP but I'll give it another go.

Small towns or villages that are scenic with markets and good food and few historic sites, if possible.

The Maeght Foundation at St-Paul-de-Vence
Vence, Matisse's Chapel of the Rosary; Chagall Museum
Picasso's works in Antibes and Vallauris
St Tropez: The Musée de l’Annonciade is one of France’s finest collections of modern art (Signac, Maillol, Matisse, Bonnard, Vlaminck, Braque).
St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat to see the paintings, sculpture and furniture of the Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild
Nice: The Musée Matisse

So looking at this again, it seems that eastern Provence is quite a draw to us.

What would others say to

CDG > Avignon, a day or two?
Rent car to leave Avignon, heard in direction of St Rémy or L´Isle-sur-la-Sorgue 3 or 4 days
Head east, wouldn't mind a coastal night or two
A few nights or 3 near or in Nice

This is shaping up but I still need help.

There are very cheap flights from Nice to ORY and I would still like to have a night or two in Paris.

So, how long for Avignon?

How much time and where to see markets and scenery in or out of the Luberon area?

Antibe or St Tropez or nearby for the coast?

Nice or outside of Nice?

tuscanlifeedit

That should be "a" few historic sites and not "few historic sites."

I live in N. America and am flying PHL <> CDG, after driving quite a long way to PHL. I'll probably sleep there (PHL) upon returning to the US.

I had thrown Uzes in there because Claire (remember her?) made it sound so delightful.

Kerouac, can you tell me a bit about the charms of Avignon? I've read about the Papal Palace, but can't seem to get a sense of the town from my general reading.

And Sarasoto, I plan to someday, if I'm fortunate enough, take a nice long trip to the cathedrals and chateaux of northern France.

Sarastro

Here is the classic dilemma for those arriving CDG and wanting to continue on the train:

1. Tickets purchased early are very inexpensive but are non refundable and non transferable.

2. Airplanes arrive late, lines at immigration can be lengthy, luggage seems to take for ever to be delivered and picked up.

Thus: How much time should be allowed between scheduled aircraft arrival and planned train departure minimizing the risks of missing the train and being left holding worthless train tickets?

I recommend a minimum of 3 hours. Most transatlantic flights arrive early at CDG. A guess would be to schedule your train departure around 11:00 to noon, all based upon availability. Trains to Avignon/Aix-en-Provence take about 3 hours, you would probably arrive late afternoon. Could you, would you want to continue beyond Avignon or Aix this first day? Given your time constraints, you may want to only spend a day or two in western Provence and proceed to your well planned objectives in eastern Provence. I like both Avignon and Aix but generally there are more places to see surrounding Avignon than surrounding Aix. You might enjoy St Rémy for a day or two. Take a look at the site of the Office de Tourisme:

http://www.saintremy-de-provence.com/

Obviously the first place you will want to visit beyond the Luberon would be St Tropez which is basically only available by car (yes, there is a bus from St Raphael). From there you work your way eastward.

If the price is right, definitely fly from NCE to ORY, the train is about 6 hours.

voyager61

Here is my take on a suitable itinerary for what you are seeking; we did a very similar trip and it worked well:

If you stay the first night in Avignon or wherever you decide to train to after your flight, you could get a car the next day and leave after lunch for Uzes. Spend two nights there. Then drive to either Gordes or Bonnieux in the Luberon and stay for 4 nights. This will allow you to cover the other perched villages in the Luberon, most of which are an easy drive from either location. Then drive to the Cote D'Azur and preferably get rid of your car at the Nice airport and take a bus/cab to your hotel in Nice for 5 nights. Use public transportation (or a private tour from the money saved by no car rental) to get to the museums you want to see on the Cote D'Azur. Buy tickets to fly from Nice to Paris (Orsay) and stay at a CDG hotel the last night before flying home.

That covers everything you want to see in 13 nights.

tuscanlifeedit

Sarastro: very helpful. Thank you. I wasn't really accounting for the expensive TGV walk up fares; I'll think harder about that.

voyager61: I think we will skip the westward leg to Uzes. Also, I'm thinking we would prefer to have a car for the nights around Nice, but I will keep your itinerary in mind.

I'm now pondering heading from Avignon (or wherever we train to) to St Remy or Isle sur la Sorgue. I wonder if we should do that or go on to a Luberon location.

StCirq

For either one, you'll need a car.

grandmere

Deb, I just love Uzes. I spent a week in Uzes in 2012 and then again this past Oct. and am in process of trying to put together a family trip for June. We did a day trip from there to Gordes, Bonnieux (it had been 21 years since we stayed in a gite near Gordes), and I sure hope that Uzes doesn't become as touristy as the Luberon has. Granted, the views of/from the perched villages of Provence are spectacular, but for just "hanging out", I choose Languedoc these days. I guess 21 years is a long time to expect things to remain the same, including the beholder!

We did not go directly from CDG to Avignon for the exact reasons Sarastro cites above, but I'm toying with trying it the next trip; it would be so much easier than going into Paris for an overnight, etc.

Happy planning! Let me know if I can tell you more about Uzes and environs.

grandmere

Whoops; I was writing my response when you were writing that you're not going to Uzes; sorry!

starrs

We took the TGV to Avignon and spent the night at a lovely hotel inside the old city wall. Took a cab back to the train station to pick up a rental car and went off exploring. Ended up in Cannes (loved it) and flew out of Nice. You can't go wrong with any of the above and in-between. You are planning a dream return trip for me

Southam

I frequently recommend trans-Atlantic passengers add an internal Paris-Marseille (or Paris-Toulouse, Paris-Nice) leg onto their ticket. At least with Delta/AirFrance-KLM, the price is almost the same as getting off in Paris. It saves the time and hassle of making the train connection (the TGV to Avignon is a pleasant ride, but not so much when you are jet-lagged.) There's a local train from Marseille airport to Avignon, an easy bus shuttle to Aix en Provence, or many train connections from Marseille's main station. You can make the train ride north, at your own pace, to fly home from Paris.

Christina

If you just want to relax a couple days, I don't understand going to Uzes, it would be easier just to go to Avignon and relax there a couple days, wouldn't it? Then you wouldn't have these issues of getting from a train station to Uzes. YOu could go there later, then, if you really want, renting a car at Avignon to get there. It would be a lot easier than trying to get to Uzes without a car.

They have an excellent art museum, the Petit Palais, for one thing, in Avignon. There are plenty of museums and galleries in lots of cities in southern France, not just in Nice. And of course, there are plenty of museums in Marseille.

tuscanlifeedit

St Cirq: we will definitely have a car, just not the first day.

Christina, thanks. I begin to see that I was hasty in dismissing Avignon. The other museums and galleries I listed are places that either or I or my husband really want to visit.

Southam, we are flying, as I mentioned, on dead cheap award tickets. No room for changing/adding/subtracting.

Sue: you could convince me. ;-)